Warner Brothers - Proud To Churn Em Out....

Hey folks, Harry here... There's a fascinating article about Warner Brothers' plan to make a bundle over at The Old Grey Lady. "We're providing mass entertainment for mass consumption," Alan Horn, co-commander of Warner Brothers stated. He also goes on to state his 'wall theory' about making films that might be worthy of the big studio walls that contain the glories of the past such as REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE or CASABLANCA or DIRTY HARRY. He asks if the movie has a chance to be worth that spot.

Now, normally that would be cause for celebration, because that would mean they were interested in risk taking, auteur visions and having the nerve to buck trends to challenge convention. Those would all be great things. But this is his list, his scheme, the masterplan of the future...

Now I love Superhero flicks. I've gone on the record as spazzing left and right all in the name of the possible glory of an impending Superhero film. But I ain't ever seen a BATMAN with the balls, nerves and fury of DIRTY HARRY. Now, sure they have Darren Aronofsky working on something that is supposed to be gritty, mean and tough... But they're talking about corporate synergy... toys, network television broadcast rights both domestic and foriegn, online games promotions, Warner Family entertainment will make a TV show and the oh so important Warner Music hit soundtrack must be there too! DIRTY HARRY never needed any of that. It wasn't created with that idea. DIRTY HARRY wasn't even envisioned as a franchise. In fact, I'd wager big bills that Don Siegel never even thought twice about there ever being a sequel. He was working with a freedom that no corporate synergy would be able to recreate. The movie is a classic, because it pushed the very limits of what could be stomached on screen. A sadistic twisted vengeance hungry cop versus a sado-masochistic homicidal fame hungry freak... It was political dynamite then and now. Inappropriate for anytime before or since. The movie had swinging sweaty balls and Warner Brothers doesn't have those these days though I wish it did.

TRAINING DAY? Well, had Denzel put a bullet in Ethan Hawke's head and set out for another day of 'good-deed-doing' it might of had a chance. But not with that ending.

As for the other two films he referenced, they were not even franchise films. They created icons, memories, dreams. James Dean was the brightest of burning candles, burning out 10 times faster than he ever should have. CASABLANCA? It had a hit song. A hit song, a single, one that wasn't even written for the film. It had an impecable cast, script, director, composer, etc. Again it was a stand alone film. Casting the lead against type. A strong ensemble cast of performers, clever to the last frame and written not just for the forties, but for all time. There were no big explosions, no huge action scenes. Hell right smack dab in the middle of the film is a sappy lovey-dovey flashback that stops the story dead in its tracks to just teach the audience what the main character's love was and the heartache of our lead. The song was chosen before production, sung not by some hot tune-slinger of the day, but a man most had never heard sing. When the studio had finished it, it had no idea what to do with the film, and it was only when history provided a release date with the real Casablanca in Morroco making news did they decide to capitalize.

What Alan Horn was talking about wasn't timeless films that embody the very meaning of artistic integrity and vision. He was talking about cranking out product, safe product that they can count on. Films calculated to spit out toys, cds, tv shows, coloring books, t-shirts and the rest. He wasn't talking about the films on those walls... Hell he doesn't even know what those films, those icons and those actors mean. He's a suit talking a shell game to the corporate lords and masters guaranteeing to them money in the coffer and trying to sound a bit high and mighty about it.

Of course the films he's mentioning, that are on his precious schedule... They're the tentpole films, the predictable money in the bank, bean-counter endeavors... The X invested will yield the Z, Y? Because the marketers say so.

I can't wait to see many of the films they are 'developing', but I just hope they really understand the meaning of the films up there on those walls. They were'nt about cookie cutter formulas and paint by numbers filmmaking. They were very much about bucking the trends and letting it all hang out. About trusting your artists, your filmmakers and your writers.... And most of all, keeping the damn marketing people out of the formula till after the movie was made. That's what the glory of Warner Brothers was. And that is what the basis for any glory of a future Warner Brothers should be entrusted.